Touch sensor panel design

ABSTRACT

A touch sensor panel including a plurality of drive lines crossing a plurality of sense lines, forming an array. The plurality of drive lines and the plurality of sense lines are formed by interconnecting sections of at least one conductive material having a truncated diamond shape or formed of interconnected conductive lines. At least one conductive dummy region may be disposed in an area of the touch sensor panel around the truncated diamond shape sections or interconnected conductive lines of the plurality of drive lines and the plurality of sense lines. One or more lines may be formed overlapping the interconnected sections of each of the plurality of drive lines and the plurality of sense lines.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/168,543 filed Apr. 10, 2009, the contents of which are incorporatedby reference herein in their entirety for all purposes.

FIELD

This relates generally to touch sensor panels, and in particular, totouch sensor panel designs that can improve touch sensitivity and reducenegative optical artifacts.

BACKGROUND

Many types of input devices are presently available for performingoperations in a computing system, such as buttons or keys, mice,trackballs, joysticks, touch sensor panels, touch screens and the like.Touch screens, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular becauseof their ease and versatility of operation as well as their decliningprice. Touch screens can include a touch sensor panel, which can be aclear panel with a touch-sensitive surface, and a display device such asa liquid crystal display (LCD) that can be positioned partially or fullybehind the panel so that the touch-sensitive surface can cover at leasta portion of the viewable area of the display device. Touch screens canallow a user to perform various functions by touching the touch sensorpanel using a finger, stylus or other object at a location dictated by auser interface (UI) being displayed by the display device. In general,touch screens can recognize a touch event and the position of the touchevent on the touch sensor panel, and the computing system can theninterpret the touch event in accordance with the display appearing atthe time of the touch event, and thereafter can perform one or moreactions based on the touch event.

Mutual capacitance touch sensor panels can be formed from a matrix ofdrive and sense lines of a substantially transparent conductive materialsuch as Indium Tim Oxide (ITO), often arranged in rows and columns inhorizontal and vertical directions on a substantially transparentsubstrate. Drive signals can be transmitted through the drive lines,which can result in the formation of static mutual capacitance at thecrossover points (sensing pixels) of the drive lines and the senselines. The static mutual capacitance, and any changes to the staticmutual capacitance due to a touch event, can be determined from sensesignals that can be generated in the sense lines due to the drivesignals.

The touch sensing pixels can be varied in size and/or spacing to enabletouch sensitivity in large panels without increasing the number of driveand sense lines which can otherwise increase the processing burden andcan cause negative optical artifacts when viewing the display devicethrough the touch panel. However, increasing the size and/or spacing ofthe touch sensing pixels can negatively impact the resistance andcapacitance (RC) time constant per pixel, thereby hindering touchsensitivity of the touch panel and limiting the speed at which the touchpanel can operate.

SUMMARY

This relates to a touch sensor panel including a plurality of shapeddrive lines and a plurality of shaped sense lines formed on the samelayer and utilizing conductive jumpers in crossover locations, accordingto one embodiment. The plurality of drive lines and the plurality ofsense lines can be formed by interconnecting sections of at least oneconductive material having a truncated diamond shape to reduce parasiticcapacitance, although other shapes can also be used. Either the sectionsof the plurality of drive lines or the sections of the plurality ofsense lines can be interconnected with one or more conductivecross-overs, which can be an opaque metal or other conductive material.A black mask or other opaque covering can be layered over the one ormore conductive cross-overs to minimize visual artifacts. Also, at leastone conductive dummy region can be disposed in an area of the touchsensor panel around the truncated diamond shaped sections of theplurality of drive lines and the plurality of sense lines to improveoptical uniformity and enhance the touch detection capabilities of thetouch sensor panel. One or more metal lines can be formed overlappingand electrically connected to the interconnected sections of each of theplurality of drive lines and the plurality of sense lines in order tofurther reduce resistance.

In an alternate embodiment, the plurality of drive lines and theplurality of sense lines can be formed by interconnecting sections ofinterconnected conductive lines. According to an embodiment, theinterconnected conductive lines are formed of sections of at least oneconductive material having an interdigitated comb design. The sectionscan be formed from a substantially transparent conductive material suchas ITO, for example. Alternatively, the interconnected conductive linesmay be thin metal lines in a web-like formation, without thesubstantially transparent conductive material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure, in accordance with one or more variousembodiments, is described in detail with reference to the followingfigures. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only andmerely depict exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. These drawingsare provided to facilitate the reader's understanding of the disclosureand should not be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, orapplicability of the disclosure. It should be noted that for clarity andease of illustration these drawings are not necessarily made to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example computing system according to variousembodiments.

FIG. 2( a) illustrates an exemplary arrangement of drive and sense lineson the same side of a single substrate according to various embodiments.

FIG. 2( b) illustrates an exemplary pixel generated from diamond-shapeddrive and sense lines on the same side of a single substrate accordingto various embodiments.

FIG. 3( a) illustrates an exemplary diamond-shaped section with thinarms according to various embodiments.

FIG. 3( b) illustrates an exemplary truncated diamond-shaped sectionwith thin arms according to various embodiments.

FIG. 3( c) illustrates an exemplary diamond-shaped section with thickarms according to various embodiments.

FIG. 3( d) illustrates an exemplary truncated diamond-shaped sectionwith thick arms according to various embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary array of interconnected truncateddiamond-shaped sections according to various embodiments.

FIG. 5( a) illustrates a close-up view of interconnected truncateddiamond-shaped sections according to various embodiments.

FIG. 5( b) illustrates a close-up view of interconnected truncateddiamond-shaped sections with angled arms according to variousembodiments

FIG. 6 an exemplary array of interconnected truncated diamond-shapedsections and dummy sections according to various embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates exemplary touch screen stackup according to variousembodiments.

FIG. 8( a) illustrates a close-up view of interconnected truncateddiamond-shaped sections with zigzagged metal traces according to variousembodiments.

FIG. 8( b) illustrates a close-up view of interconnected truncateddiamond-shaped sections with a conductive pattern on each sectionaccording to various embodiments.

FIG. 8( c) illustrates a close-up view of interconnected patternswithout truncated diamond-shaped sections according to variousembodiments.

FIG. 8( d) illustrates a close-up view of interconnected truncateddiamond-shaped sections with disjointed conductive patterns on eachsection according to various embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates exemplary columns of interdigitated comb designsections according to various embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary drive lines of interdigitated comb designsections according to various embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates exemplary dummy sections according to variousembodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates a close-up view of connected interdigitated combsections and dummy sections according to various embodiments.

FIG. 13( a) illustrates an exemplary mobile telephone that can include atouch sensor panel according to the various embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 13( b) illustrates an exemplary digital media player that caninclude a touch sensor panel according to the various embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 13( c) illustrates exemplary personal computer that can include atouch sensor panel according to the various embodiments described herein

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of embodiments, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which it is shownby way of illustration specific embodiments that can be practiced. It isto be understood that other embodiments can be used and structuralchanges can be made without departing from the scope of the disclosedembodiments.

This relates to the formation of touch sensor panels, and in someembodiments, larger-size touch sensor panels. A touch sensor panel,according to various embodiments, can include a plurality of drive linescrossing a plurality of sense lines, forming an array. The plurality ofdrive lines and the plurality of sense lines can be formed byinterconnecting sections of at least one conductive material having atruncated diamond shape in order to reduce parasitic capacitance,although other shapes can also be used. At least one conductive dummyregion can be disposed in an area of the touch sensor panel around thetruncated diamond shape sections of the plurality of drive lines and theplurality of sense lines, in order to provide visual uniformity and tofurther reduce parasitic capacitance. One or more metal lines (or linesformed from other conductive material) may be formed overlapping and inelectrical contact with the interconnected sections of each of theplurality of drive lines and the plurality of sense lines, in order tofurther reduce resistance.

In an alternate embodiment, the plurality of drive lines and theplurality of sense lines can be formed by interconnecting sections ofinterconnected conductive lines. According to an embodiment, theinterconnected conductive lines are formed of sections of at least oneconductive material having an interdigitated comb design. The sectionscan be formed from a substantially transparent conductive material suchas ITO, for example. Alternatively, the interconnected conductive linesmay be thin metal lines in a web-like formation, without thesubstantially transparent conductive material.

Although embodiments may be described and illustrated herein in terms ofmutual capacitance touch sensor panels, it should be understood that thevarious embodiments are not so limited, but can be additionallyapplicable to self-capacitance sensor panels, single and multi-touchsensor panels, and other sensors in which multiple simultaneousstimulation signals are used to generate a composite sense signal.Furthermore, it should be understood that various embodiments are alsoapplicable to various touch sensor panel configurations, such asconfigurations in which the drive and sense lines are formed innon-orthogonal arrangements, on the back of a cover glass, on the sameside of a single substrate, or integrated with display circuitry.

FIG. 1 illustrates example computing system 100 that can utilizemulti-touch controller 106 with integrated drive system according tovarious embodiments. Touch controller 106 can be a single applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC) that can include one or moreprocessor subsystems 102, which can include, for example, one or moremain processors, such as ARM968 processors or other processors withsimilar functionality and capabilities. However, in other embodiments,the processor functionality can be implemented instead by dedicatedlogic, such as a state machine. Processor subsystems 102 can alsoinclude, for example, peripherals (not shown) such as random accessmemory (RAM) or other types of memory or storage, watchdog timers andthe like. Touch controller 106 can also include, for example, receivesection 107 for receiving signals, such as touch sense signals 103 fromthe sense lines of touch sensor panel 124, other signals from othersensors such as sensor 111, etc. Touch controller 106 can also include,for example, a demodulation section such as multistage vector demodengine 109, panel scan logic 110, and a drive system including, forexample, transmit section 114. Panel scan logic 110 can access RAM 112,autonomously read data from the sense channels and provide control forthe sense channels. In addition, panel scan logic 110 can controltransmit section 114 to generate stimulation signals 116 at variousfrequencies and phases that can be selectively applied to the drivelines of touch sensor panel 124.

Charge pump 115 can be used to generate the supply voltage for thetransmit section. Stimulation signals 116 (Vstim) can have amplitudeshigher than the maximum voltage the ASIC process can tolerate bycascoding transistors. Therefore, using charge pump 115, the stimulusvoltage can be higher (e.g. 6V) than the voltage level a singletransistor can handle (e.g. 3.6 V). Although FIG. 1 shows charge pump115 separate from transmit section 114, the charge pump can be part ofthe transmit section.

Touch sensor panel 124 can include a capacitive sensing medium having aplurality of drive lines and a plurality of sense lines. The drive andsense lines can be formed from a transparent conductive medium such asIndium Tin Oxide (ITO) or Antimony Tin Oxide (ATO), although othertransparent and non-transparent materials such as copper can also beused. In some embodiments, the drive and sense lines can beperpendicular to each other, although in other embodiments othernon-Cartesian orientations are possible. For example, in a polarcoordinate system, the sensing lines can be concentric circles and thedriving lines can be radially extending lines (or vice versa). It shouldbe understood, therefore, that the terms “drive lines” and “sense lines”as used herein are intended to encompass not only orthogonal grids, butthe intersecting traces of other geometric configurations having firstand second dimensions (e.g. the concentric and radial lines of apolar-coordinate arrangement). The drive and sense lines can be formedon, for example, a single side of a substantially transparent substrate.

At the “intersections” of the traces, where the drive and sense linescan pass adjacent to and above and below (cross) each other (but withoutmaking direct electrical contact with each other), the drive and senselines can essentially form two electrodes (although more than two tracescould intersect as well). Each intersection of drive and sense lines canrepresent a capacitive sensing node and can be viewed as picture element(pixel) 126, which can be particularly useful when touch sensor panel124 is viewed as capturing an “image” of touch. (In other words, aftertouch controller 106 has determined whether a touch event has beendetected at each touch sensor in the touch sensor panel, the pattern oftouch sensors in the multi-touch panel at which a touch event occurredcan be viewed as an “image” of touch (e.g. a pattern of fingers touchingthe panel).) The capacitance between drive and sense electrodes canappear as a stray capacitance when the given row is held at directcurrent (DC) voltage levels and as a mutual signal capacitance Csig whenthe given row is stimulated with an alternating current (AC) signal. Thepresence of a finger or other object near or on the touch sensor panelcan be detected by measuring changes to a signal charge Qsig present atthe pixels being touched, which is a function of Csig.

Computing system 100 can also include host processor 128 for receivingoutputs from processor subsystems 102 and performing actions based onthe outputs that can include, but are not limited to, moving an objectsuch as a cursor or pointer, scrolling or panning, adjusting controlsettings, opening a file or document, viewing a menu, making aselection, executing instructions, operating a peripheral deviceconnected to the host device, answering a telephone call, placing atelephone call, terminating a telephone call, changing the volume oraudio settings, storing information related to telephone communicationssuch as addresses, frequently dialed numbers, received calls, missedcalls, logging onto a computer or a computer network, permittingauthorized individuals access to restricted areas of the computer orcomputer network, loading a user profile associated with a user'spreferred arrangement of the computer desktop, permitting access to webcontent, launching a particular program, encrypting or decoding amessage, and/or the like. Host processor 128 can also perform additionalfunctions that may not be related to panel processing, and can becoupled to program storage 132 and display device 130 such as an LCDdisplay for providing a UI to a user of the device. In some embodiments,host processor 128 can be a separate component from touch controller106, as shown. In other embodiments, host processor 128 can be includedas part of touch controller 106. In still other embodiments, thefunctions of host processor 128 can be performed by processor subsystem102 and/or distributed among other components of touch controller 106.Display device 130 together with touch sensor panel 124, when locatedpartially or entirely under the touch sensor panel, can form touchscreen 118.

Note that one or more of the functions described above can be performed,for example, by firmware stored in memory (e.g., one of the peripherals)and executed by processor subsystem 102, or stored in program storage132 and executed by host processor 128. The firmware can also be storedand/or transported within any computer-readable medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device,such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or othersystem that can fetch the instructions from the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In thecontext of this document, a “computer-readable medium” can be any mediumthat can contain or store the program for use by or in connection withthe instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computerreadable medium can include, but is not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus or device, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a randomaccess memory (RAM) (magnetic), a read-only memory (ROM) (magnetic), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) (magnetic), a portableoptical disc such a CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, or DVD-RW, or flashmemory such as compact flash cards, secured digital cards, USB memorydevices, memory sticks, and the like.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the drive andsense lines of touch sensor panel 124 may be formed of diamond-shaped ortruncated diamond-shaped sections of ITO, for example, that areinterconnected. FIG. 2 a illustrates exemplary arrangement 200 ofdiamond-shaped drive and sense lines on the same layer and side of asingle substrate. Note that the spatial density of pixels in thearrangement can be made similar to previously disclosed sensor panels,as spatial density can be dependent on the geometry of thediamond-shaped drive and sense lines. Note also that FIG. 2 a showsdiamond-shaped drive lines 202 and diamond-shaped sense lines 204separately and superimposed at 200; however, drive lines 202 and senselines 204 can be disposed on the same layer. In FIG. 2 a, each driveline 202 can be formed from areas of substantially transparent ITO 206(“sections” 206) connected at adjacent facing points by necked-down area208, although conductive material other than ITO can also be used. Eachsense line 204 can be similarly formed from areas of substantiallytransparent ITO 210 (“sections” 210) or other conductive materialconnected at adjacent facing points by interconnect area 212 (describedin greater detail below), which “jump over” the interconnected drivelines sections 206 at necked-down area 208. Sense lines 204 can beconnected to a pre-amplifier held at a virtual ground of, for example,1.5V, and one or more drive lines 202 can be stimulated with the othersheld at direct current (DC) voltage levels.

FIG. 2 b illustrates exemplary pixel 230 generated from diamond-shapeddrive lines 202 and sense lines 204 on the same side of a singlesubstrate according to various embodiments. If drive lines 202 isstimulated with a stimulation signal Vstim 220, a static mutualcapacitance can be formed at intersection 216 of the necked-down areas.The static mutual capacitance at intersection 216 can be undesirablebecause a finger may not be able to block many of the fringing fields.Accordingly, in this embodiment the necked-down areas are made as smallas possible; however, alternate arm designs of the diamond sections aredescribed below with reference to other embodiments.

A fringe mutual capacitance 218 can also be formed between the diamondsin the stimulated drive lines and the adjacent sense line diamonds.Fringe mutual capacitance 218 between adjacent diamonds can be ofroughly the same order as the mutual capacitance formed between driveand sense lines separated by a substrate. Fringe mutual capacitance 218between adjacent row and column diamonds can be desirable because afinger or other object may be able to block some of the fringingelectric field lines and effect a change in the mutual capacitance thatcan be detected by the analog channels connected to the rows. As shownin FIG. 2 b, there can be four “hot spots” of fringing mutualcapacitance indicated at 218 that can be blocked by a finger or otherobject, and the more that a finger blocks, the greater the change in themutual capacitance.

FIGS. 3( a)-3(d) show exemplary ITO section architectures of drive linessections 206 and sense line sections 210 that may be interconnected toform drive lines 202 and/or sense lines 204, although it should beunderstood that conductive materials other than ITO may also be used.Each section may include a variable size arm 300, which can connect toanother arm 300 of an adjoining section or may be electrically connectedto interconnect 212, which in turn can be connected to arm 300 ofanother sense line section 210, for example (e.g., to form sense line204).

As shown in FIGS. 3( a)-3(d), drive line sections 206 and sense linesections 210 may be truncated (as shown in FIGS. 3( b) and 3(d)), whichcan reduce parasitic capacitance therein. In general, reducing thesurface area of a section at its widest point (e.g., chopping off thecorners of the diamond) where the sheet resistance in Ohms per square islowest can reduce parasitic mutual capacitance without significantlyincreasing the overall resistance of the section. In addition, throughRC time constant simulations, it has been determined that increasing thewidth of arm 300 as much as possible, with the truncated diamond shapeof the drive lines sections 206 and sense line sections 210, canincrease conductance C, thus reducing resistance R, as compared tonarrower arms 300 with the truncated diamond shape (i.e., FIG. 3( b)).Resistance R simulations of the sections provided in FIGS. 3( a)-(d) areshown in Table 1 below:

TABLE 1 FIG. 3(a) FIG. 3(b) FIG. 3(c) FIG. 3(d) Rx Ry Rx Ry Rx Ry Rx RyR (Ohms) 541 832 576 868 482 556 517 593 R/pitch 99 144 105 150 88 97 95103 (Ohms/mm)

Thus, using a section 206/210 design as shown in FIG. 3( d), forexample, parasitic capacitance may be reduced without a significantincrease in resistances Rx and Ry.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary array of drive lines 202 and sense lines 204formed of interconnected sections 206/210 as shown in FIG. 3( d),according to various embodiments. Drive lines 202 can be formed fromconnected truncated diamond-shaped sections 206. Sense lines 204 can beformed by interconnecting truncated diamond-shaped sections 210 usinginterconnects 212, for example, which can connect individual sections210 by crossing or jumping over sections 206 at their connection point.That is, interconnects 212 can connect individual sections 210 over orunder the connection point of sections 206. Interconnects 212 may be anyconductive material, such as an opaque metal or ITO.

FIG. 5( a) is a close-up view of the connections of drive line sections206 and sense line sections 210, using interconnects 212. Beforeinterconnect 212 is formed, insulating material 214 can be applied overthe conductive material (e.g., ITO) layer forming drive and sense lines206 and 210. Interconnect 212, which can be made of metal or otherconductive material, can then be applied over insulating material 214,extending beyond the insulating material to short together sense linesections 210. In alternative embodiments, the process of forming the ITOlayer, insulating layer, and metal layer can be reversed, with the metallayer deposited first. In either embodiment, an optional layer of blackmask (or other nonreflective material) can be applied over interconnect212 to reduce negative visual artifacts. As can be seen in FIG. 5( a),arms 300 can be made as wide as possible in order to increasecapacitance C, thus reducing resistances Rx and Ry. Arms 300 shown inFIG. 5( a) are merely exemplary arm 300 designs, and variations of arms300 can be employed without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. For example, in one alternative embodiment, the narrowestarm portion of sections 210, along with the necked-down areas betweensections 206, can be formed in an angled manner at sides 301 as shown inFIG. 5 b to lower the overall resistance of the sense line sections 210.According to an embodiment, the portion of arm 300 that isinterconnecting to another arm 300 can be as narrow as possible, whileeach arm 300 increases in width as much as possible from the point ofinterconnecting in order to decrease resistance.

Isolated “dummy” sections can be formed between drive lines 202 andsense lines 204 according to various embodiments. FIG. 6 shows anexemplary array of drive lines 202 and sense lines 204 formed ofinterconnected sections 206/210 as shown in FIG. 3( d), in which dummysections 600 and 602 are formed therebetween, according to variousembodiments. In particular, generally rectangular dummy sections 600 ofthe same composition (e.g., ITO) as sections 206 and 210 can be formedbetween drive lines 202 and sense lines 204 on the same layer as drivelines 202 and sense lines 204. In addition, generally arrow-shapeddiagonal dummy sections 602 of the same composition (e.g., ITO) assections 206 and 210 can be formed between drive lines 202 and senselines 204 on the same layer as the drive and sense lines. Because ofdummy sections 600, almost all areas of the substrate can be covered(i.e. substantially covered) with the same material, providing opticaluniformity. In FIG. 6, repeating patterns of four isolated dummysections 600 and four isolated dummy sections 602 are illustrated forexemplary purposes; however, one of skill in the art would realize thatany number of dummy sections 600 and 602 of any number of shapes may beformed on the substrate between drive lines 202 and sense lines 204.

A large parasitic mutual capacitance can be formed between stimulateddrive line 202, for example, and dummy sections 600 and 602, but becausedummy sections 600 and 602 are isolated, their voltage potential canmove along with stimulated drive line 202 and can have minimal or nonegative impact on touch detection. Reducing the size of each dummysection 600 and 602 in a particular area, thus increasing the number ofdummy sections 600 and 602, can further reduce parasitic mutualcapacitance.

Dummy sections 602 can also have a beneficial impact on touch detection.Because drive lines 202 and sense lines 204 can be formed on the samelayer on the same side of a substrate, a large static mutual capacitancecan be created between them. However, only a relatively small number ofthe electric field lines between drive lines 202 and sense lines 204(those that extend beyond the cover of the touch sensor panel) arecapable of being influenced by a finger or other object. Most of theelectric field lines remain within the confines of the cover and aregenerally unaffected by a touch event. Therefore, a touch event may onlycause a small change in the large static mutual capacitance, making itdifficult to detect the touch event. However, with dummy sections 602 inplace, instead of having static mutual capacitance form between drivelines 202 and sense lines 204 within the confines of the cover,parasitic mutual capacitance will instead be formed between the drivelines 202 and the dummy sections 602. Removal of static mutualcapacitance unaffected by a touch event can improve the touch detectioncapabilities of the panel, because a higher percentage of the remainingstatic mutual capacitance can be influenced by a touch event.

FIG. 6 also provides exemplary measurements for sections 206 and 210,arms 300, dummy sections 600 and empty space therebetween. However, itis noted that these measurements are merely used for exemplary purposesand are not intended to limit the sizes or dimensions of components ofthe touch sensor display.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary touch screen stackup 700 according tovarious embodiments. It should be understood, however, that the varioustouch pixel embodiments disclosed herein can also be implemented inother configurations including, but not limited to, on the back side ofa cover glass, the back side of the touch panel (TP) glass, orintegrated within a display module (e.g., OLED or LCD). In FIG. 7, blackmask (or a mask of any color) 702 can be formed on a portion of the backside of cover 704, and an optional smoothing coat 706 can be appliedover the black mask and back side of the cover. According to certainembodiments, the black mask may be formed to cover the metalinterconnects 212 interconnecting the ITO truncated diamond-shapedsections 210, for example. Accordingly, visual artifacts caused by lightreflecting from the metal interconnects 212 may be mitigated. Touchpanel 708 of the type described above, with drive lines, sense lines,insulating material and metal jumper (at area 709 in FIG. 7) formed onthe same layer on the same side of a glass substrate, can be bonded tothe cover with pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) 710. An unpatternedlayer of ITO 712 can optionally be formed on the bottom of the glass toact as a shield. Anti-reflective film 714 can then be deposited overunpatterned ITO 712. LCD module 716 can then be placed beneath the glasssubstrate, optionally separated by air gap 718 for ease of repair.

FIG. 8( a) illustrates an embodiment in which truncated diamond-shapedsections 206 and 210 are interconnected as described above withreference to FIG. 5. However, in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 8( a),metal lines (or traces) 800 (or lines of other conductive material) areelectrically connected substantially in parallel to at least one driveline 202 and/or sense line 204. Metal traces 800 can be formed on thesame layer and from the same material as interconnect 212. Metal traces800 electrically connected to sense line sections 210 can be directlyconnected to interconnect 212, while in some embodiments metal traces800 electrically connected to drive line sections 206 can be terminatedat the end of arm area 300 as shown in FIG. 8( a). However, in otherembodiments, metal traces 800 electrically connected to drive linesections 206 can be connected together in an unbroken fashion, separatedfrom interconnect 212 by insulating material 214. The metal traces 800can have a significantly lower resistance as compared to the ITOsections 206 and 210 (ITO sheet resistance may be ˜140 Ohms, while metalsheet resistance may be ˜0.3 Ohms). Thus, adding the lower-resistancemetal traces 800 can result in a lower resistance drive lines 202 andsense lines 204.

In the depicted embodiment, the metal traces are zigzagged in order tominimize visual artifacts when viewing the LCD, for example, through thetouch panel sensor 124. The zigzag pattern can avoid Moire or othernegative visual effects that can result from the metal traces being inalignment with the LCD structures. Alternatively, the pattern can bedesigned to be aligned over the black mask areas of the LCD to minimizeblocking of the displayed image. However, the traces 800 may be straightor in any zigzag pattern without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. The metal traces 800 can be connected to metal interconnect212, according to an embodiment. The metal traces 800 may be connectedor disconnected between sections 206, for example. In addition, althoughFIG. 8( a) only shows a single metal line 800 for each section 206 or210, in other embodiments any interconnected conductive pattern 810,made up of one or more traces of one or more conductive materials) maybe formed in electrical contact with each of the sections to lower theresistance of those sections, as shown in FIG. 8( b). In someembodiments, these patterns 810 can be made uniform to minimize thenegative visual artifacts created by the addition of the metal traces.In still further embodiments, sections 206 and 210 can be entirelyreplaced by interconnected conductive patterns 810, as shown in FIG. 8(c).

It is noted that the multiple conductive patterns 810 are not limited toany particular pattern 810, and one of skill in the art would realizethat various patterns 810 can be formed within the scope of the presentdisclosure. For example, FIG. 8( d) shows an embodiment where disjointedconductive patterns 820 are disposed in one or more random orientations.Disjointed conductive patterns 820 provide lower resistance drive lines202 and sense lines 204, as well as being optically uniform at adistance, to make the disjointed conductive patterns 820 less visible.Any number of disjointed conductive patterns 820 can be included, andvarious different disjointed conductive patterns 820 may be formed ineach of drive lines 202 and sense lines 204. While the embodimentdepicted in FIG. 8( a) can optimize conductance (potentially better thanthe embodiment of FIG. 8( d)) wire visibility can be reduced withdisjointed conductive patterns 820, as in FIG. 8( d). Referring to FIG.8( d), insulating material 214 can be included (as described above) whenthe conductive patterns 820 happen to fall where they cross betweensections 206 and/or 210, in order to avoid shorting between sections 206and/or 210. Of course, all or portions of each of the embodiments ofFIGS. 8( a)-8(d) may be used alone or in combination without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure.

In an alternate embodiment, the entire array of drive lines 202 andsense lines 204 can be rotated a predetermined amount (e.g., 15, 30 or60 degrees) relative to the display module 716, for example, in order tominimize visual artifacts caused by the metal lines 800.

Alternative designs for sections 206 and 210 and dummy sections can beused in order to maintain touch sensitivity while minimizing negativevisual artifacts. FIGS. 9-11 respectively show exemplary columns 204,rows 202 and dummy sections 1100 that may be combined to form a touchsensor panel, according to an embodiment. Of course, it is noted thatthe rows 202, columns 204 and dummy sections 1100 can be formed during asingle deposition and patterning step, while interconnects 212 can beformed separately (either before or after the single deposition andpatterning step). FIG. 9 shows an example of interdigitated comb designsections 900 interconnected by interconnects 212 to form sense lines204. The embodiment depicted in FIG. 9 shows sections 900 with threeextending digits on either side of each section 900. However, threeextending digits are merely depicted as an example, and any number orsize of extending portions can be used.

FIG. 10 depicts an example of interdigitated comb design sections 1000to form drive lines 202. This particular shape of sections 1000 can bechosen because of its correspondence with the chosen comb design ofsections 900 in sense lines 204 of FIG. 9; however, one of ordinaryskill in the art would realize that various designs of sections 900 incombination with sections 1000 can be used. It should be understood thatthe interlocking extending digits of sections 900 and 1000 can result inan increased amount of static mutual capacitance and increased touchdetection capabilities.

Sections 900 and 1000 can be formed of a substantially transparentconductive material, such as ITO. Alternatively, sections 900 and/or1000 can be made up of thin opaque metal lines in an interconnected webdesign to form rows 202 and columns 204. The web design of sections 900and/or 1000 can include any number of digits disposed in variousdirections, and each digit can include any number of sub-digitsbranching therefrom.

FIG. 11 shows an example array of dummy sections 1100, which can bedisposed in the empty area of the substrate 708 that is not covered bysections 900 and 1000. As noted above, dummy sections 1100 can be formedof the same conductive material as sections 900 and 1000 (e.g., ITO),and provide uniformity on the substrate, thereby reducing visualartifacts and parasitic capacitance. Dummy sections 1100 can alsoimprove the touch detection capabilities of the panel by eliminatingstatic mutual capacitance that is incapable of being influenced by atouch event.

FIG. 12 is a close-up view of interconnected row sections 1000, as wellas column sections 900 interconnected using an insulator 214 and metalinterconnect 212. As shown in FIG. 12, dummy sections 1100 cansubstantially fill the empty space between sections 900 and 1000.

FIG. 13( a) illustrates an example mobile telephone 1336 that caninclude touch sensor panel 1324 and display device 1330, the touchsensor panel including a touch pixel design according to one of thevarious embodiments described herein.

FIG. 13( b) illustrates an example digital media player 1340 that caninclude touch sensor panel 1324 and display device 1330, the touchsensor panel including a touch pixel design according to one of thevarious embodiments described herein.

FIG. 13( c) illustrates an example personal computer 1344 that caninclude touch sensor panel (trackpad) 1324 and display 1330, the touchsensor panel and/or display of the personal computer (in embodimentswhere the display is part of a touch screen) including a touch pixeldesign according to the various embodiments described herein.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notby way of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict anexample architectural or other configuration for the disclosure, whichis done to aid in understanding the features and functionality that canbe included in the disclosure. The disclosure is not restricted to theillustrated example architectures or configurations, but can beimplemented using a variety of alternative architectures andconfigurations. Additionally, although the disclosure is described abovein terms of various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it shouldbe understood that the various features and functionality described inone or more of the individual embodiments are not limited in theirapplicability to the particular embodiment with which they aredescribed. They instead can be applied alone or in some combination, toone or more of the other embodiments of the disclosure, whether or notsuch embodiments are described, and whether or not such features arepresented as being a part of a described embodiment. Thus the breadthand scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of theabove-described exemplary embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch sensor panel, comprising: a plurality ofdrive lines formed by interconnecting sections of a first conductivematerial having a truncated diamond shape; a plurality of sense linesformed by interconnecting sections of the first conductive materialhaving a truncated diamond shape on a same layer as the plurality ofdrive lines; a plurality of interconnect sections of a second conductivematerial configured for enabling the plurality of drive and sense linesto cross over each other to form an array of capacitive touch sensors;and one or more traces overlapping and in electrical contact with theinterconnect sections of at least one of the plurality of drive linesand the plurality of sense lines, wherein the one or more traces areformed of a conductive material with a lower resistance than the firstconductive material.
 2. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, furthercomprising: at least one conductive dummy region disposed in an area ofthe touch sensor panel around the truncated diamond shape sections of atleast one of the plurality of drive lines and the plurality of senselines.
 3. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein the one or moretraces are disposed in a zigzag pattern.
 4. The touch sensor panel ofclaim 1, further comprising a display device at least partiallyoverlaying the touch sensor panel to form a touch screen.
 5. The touchsensor panel of claim 4, wherein the display device is rotated relativeto the touch sensor panel.
 6. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, whereinthe plurality of interconnect sections are formed from an opaque metal.7. The touch sensor panel of claim 6, wherein an opaque mask is layeredover the plurality of interconnect sections.
 8. The touch sensor panelof claim 1, further comprising arms extending from the truncated diamondshapes of the plurality of drive and sense lines for connecting thetruncated diamond shapes, the arms configured for minimizing aresistance of the connected truncated diamond shapes.
 9. The touchsensor panel of claim 8, the arms further configured with angled edgesextending outward from an area where the truncated diamond shapes areconnected for further minimizing the resistance of the connectedtruncated diamond shapes.
 10. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, whereinthe touch sensor panel is incorporated within a computing system.
 11. Atouch sensor panel, comprising: a plurality of drive lines formed byinterconnecting sections of a first conductive material forming one ormore conductive patterns; a plurality of sense lines formed byinterconnecting sections of the first conductive material forming one ormore conductive patterns on a same layer as the plurality of drivelines; a plurality of interconnect sections of a second conductivematerial configured for enabling the plurality of drive and sense linesto cross over each other to form an array of capacitive touch sensors;and one or more traces overlapping and in electrical contact with theinterconnect sections of at least one of the plurality of drive linesand the plurality of sense lines, wherein the one or more traces areformed of a conductive material with a lower resistance than the firstconductive material.
 12. The touch sensor panel of claim 11, wherein theone or more conductive patterns of the plurality of drive lines and theplurality of sense lines form an interdigitated comb shape.
 13. Thetouch sensor panel of claim 12, wherein the first conductive material isITO.
 14. The touch sensor panel of claim 11, wherein the firstconductive material is an opaque metal, and the one or more conductivepatterns of at least one of the plurality of drive lines and theplurality of sense lines form one or more web-like patterns.
 15. Thetouch sensor panel of claim 11, further comprising: at least oneconductive dummy region disposed in an area of the touch sensor panelaround the one or more conductive patterns of at least one of theplurality of drive lines and the plurality of sense lines.
 16. The touchsensor panel of claim 11, wherein the touch sensor panel is incorporatedwithin a computing system.
 17. A method of forming a touch sensor panel,comprising: forming a plurality of drive lines formed by interconnectingsections of a first conductive material forming one or more conductivepatterns; forming a plurality of sense lines formed by interconnectingsections of the first conductive material forming one or more conductivepatterns on a same layer as the plurality of drive lines; forming aplurality of interconnect sections of a second conductive materialconfigured for enabling the plurality of drive and sense lines to crossover each other to form an array of capacitive touch sensors; andforming one or more traces overlapping and in electrical contact withthe interconnect sections of at least one of the plurality of drivelines and the plurality of sense lines, wherein the one or more tracesare formed of a conductive material with a lower resistance than thefirst conductive material.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the oneor more conductive patterns of the plurality of drive lines and theplurality of sense lines form an interdigitated comb shape.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, wherein the first conductive material is ITO. 20.The method of claim 17, wherein the first conductive material is anopaque metal, and the one or more conductive patterns of at least one ofthe plurality of drive lines and the plurality of sense lines form oneor more web-like patterns.
 21. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising: forming at least one conductive dummy region disposed in anarea of the touch sensor panel around the one or more conductivepatterns of at least one of the plurality of drive lines and theplurality of sense lines.
 22. The method of claim 17, wherein the touchsensor panel is incorporated within a computing system.